Sheet-metal container for food



June 24, 1924. 1,499,239

A. K. MALMQUIST SHEET METAL CONTAINER FOR FOOD Filed dan- 1 2 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 @5 Wm M Srmm s June 24 1924.

A. K. MALMQUIST SHEET METAL CONTAINER FOR FOOD 1922 2 SheetS-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 6,

glwuewtoz attained Patented June 24,1924; I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.AD'OLPH x. Humanism, or soon! BELLmoHAm wAsnmeroN, ASSIGNOR TO THE MALMQUIST mcrmm com any, or soo'rn IBELLINGHA'M, WASHINGTON.

. SHEET-METAL CONTAINER Foe roon.

'To all whom'z't may concern: 3

Be it known that, I, ADOLPH K. MALM- enter, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of South Bellingham, in the county 5 of Whatcom and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Metal Containers for Food; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of. the invention, such as will enable others skilled in he art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in sheet metal containers for food and more particularly to such as are employed in the canning industry.

Ithas been proposed to hermetically seal in cans, both solids and liquids, and to perform the operations of supplying liquid to a can containing solids while in a vacuous chamber and of afterward sealing a cap to the can while still in the'vacuous chamber. Such amethod is disclosed in Letters Patent N 0. 1,386,887 granted to me on the 9th day of August 1921. In carrying out such a A ,4 'method, uniformity, simplicity and flexibility of construction of the end members (especially the bottom members) of the cans are mattersofimportance to insure the proper filling and sealing of the cans with- 'out danger of loss of liquid.

In the method disclosed in In said former patent, a can containing soli food is enclosed in a vacuous chamber and while in said chamber the can is raised to. a liquid, supplying means and its internal capacity is reduced (b bowing the bottom of the can inwardly) w ile it "is being supplied with liquid. The can is afterwards lowered- 40 (when its bottom will be permitted to asslime its original form), and then transferred to means which will seam a cap to its upper end, while the can is still in the vacuous chamber. One object of my present invention is to so construct a can that the method of can-,

ning above outlined shall be facilitated; so"b that the bottom of the can shall be such that it may be readily flexed to cause it to bow inwardly to reduce the internal capacity of the can when the latter is presented to the liquidsupplying means, and so that said bottom may be permitted to flex in the reverse direction when the can descends from the liquid supplying means and bulge outwardly .top member Figures 4, 5 and Gare views Application filed January 6, 1922. Serial No. 527,395.

to so increase the internal capacityof the can that the liquid level may descend below the level of the solid contentstof the can,vwhereby'the can (containing both solids and liquid) may be transferred to seaming means WithOllt. danger of spillingan'y of the liquid-and whereby also the cap may be ap plied and seamed to the filled can'without danger of squeezing any of the liquid from the can by pressure upon the solid contents.

With the above stated and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features'as hereinafter set forth and pointed out in the claims.

In theaccompanying drawings; Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a can body having a bottom end member in accordance with my improvements, seamed thereto; Figures 2 and 3are views showing the can cap or of apparatus to illustrate the manner in which the can may be manipulated prior to, during and subsequent to the supplying of liquid to the can, and Figure 7 is a view of the sealed and finished can showing the positions which the end, members will assume after the filled and sealed can shall have been removed from the vacuous chamber.

My improved can comprises a sheet metal body member 1; a sheet metal bottom mem'-- her 2 having air tight union with the lower edge portion of the body member, and a top or cap member 3 to be seamed to the upper edge portion of the body member 1. The bottom member '2 is so formed that it shall be fiexible and may normally bulge outwardly or downwardly, but so that it shall be capable of being caused to-bow inwardly and afterwards (when the can is filled within a vacuous chamber) to bulge outwardly. In order to guard against warping of the bottom members of cans and insure the retention of their proper shape, so that they may be stacked 1n a seaming machine and accurately fed from the stack, the bottom .member may be formed with an annular ead or corrugation 4 near its peripheral portion. The construction of the ea or top member 3 may be similarto that o the bottom member and provided with an annular bead or corrugation 4'. In Figures 2 and 3 however, the cap or to member is I shown as having its" ma or P01131011 normally flat. In any event the top member 3 must besufliciently flexible to be capable of being no i 9 is also provided to out of the can when it is forced on by the 'chuck of a can sealing mechanism.

The importance of the flexible end members and particularly the construction of the bottom member, when the cans are employed for canning liquid with solids while the cans are enclosed in vacuum chambers, will be apparent from the following explanation of the manner in which the cans are manipulated during the method of filling cans containing solids, with liquid.

A portion 5 of a can filling machine is shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6 and it may be assumed that the chamber 6 has been exhausted. It may also be assumed that mechanism (not shown) may be employed for applying caps and seaming them to the can bodies while in said exhausted chamber. In Figures 4; to 6 l have shown a vertically movable platform 7 which receives a can 1 containing solid food and having (in Figures 4 and 6) the outwardly or downwardly bulged or bowed bottomv2. In the top portion of the chamber is a disk 8 to enter the open upper end of the can when the latter has been raised as in Figure 5 and a gasket receive the upper edge of the open can body 1. A casing 10 for a valve 11 is located over the top of the easing forming the vacuum chamber '6 and communicates through a duct 12 with said chamber so as to discharge liquid (from a convenient source of supply, not shown)'to a can when the latter 1s in the raised position shown in Figure 5. The can platform 7 is made with a central opening for the and carried by accommodation of a rod 13 and its head 14-; the lower end of said rod being secured to a Vertically movable plunger 15. A roller 16 is mounted at the lower end portion of the plunger 15 and with this roller, a cam 17 is cooperable to move the plunger vertically,said cam being secured to an operating shaft 18 of the canning machine. The upper end of the plunger 15 may be made with a recess 19 in which a spring 20 may be seated, the upper end of said spring bearing against the bottom of the can platform 7.

As previously stated, the bottom 2 of the can is flexible and normally bulged outwardly or downwardly and when in this condition, it will be supplied with a solid food and inserted into the chamber 6, after which, the, said chamber wilhbe exhausted. The platform will be caused to rise and the upper edge of the can be caused to bear against the gasket 9,-the displacement disk or plate 8 entering the can and displacing the contents sufficiently to accommodate the cap or top member which will be subsequently seamed to the can. After the upper end of the can shall havebeen pressed against the gasket 9 and thus temporarily closed,

continued upward movement of the plunger 15 will cause the head 14 on the rod- 13 to press the can bottom 2,'upwardly or inwardly, causing it to bow inwardly as shown in Fig. 5, thus reducing the internal capacity of the can. The valve 11 may now be 0 ened to permit the filling of the can with iquid which will percolate through the solid food and into the pores thereof and cover the said solid food. As the can descends from the position shown in Figure 5, vthe descent of the plunger 15 willcause the headed rod 13 to descend the extent permitted by the spring 20 before the upper endof the can leaves the gasket 9. ,During such preliminary descent of the rod 13, pressure of its head 1 1 against the flexible can bottom 2 will be relieved and the weight of the contents of the can will cause said flexible bottom to become convex or bulged outwardly ing the internal capacity of the can,--in

other words restoring the can to its original internal cubic area. By thus increasing the internal capacity of the can after the liquid shall have been discharged thereinto, the level of the liquid in the can will be caused to descend (see a: Figure 6) below the level m of the solid food and hence there will be no danger of spilling any of the liquid from the can while the latter is being transferred from the liquid filling means to the sealing or cap placing and seaming mechanism. Furthermore, the cap or top member of the can may be pressed in position and seamed to the top of the canbody without danger of squeezing or pressing liquid from the can during such capping operations.

In the event that the weight of the contents of the can should be found to be insufficient to cause the bottom member to readily flex from its inwardly bowed or concave position to its outwardl bulged or convex position, resort might be ad to magnctic or other means.

When the filled and sealed can shall have been removed from the vacuum chamber in which the liquid filling and after the can sealing operations had been performed in vacuum, atmospheric pressure will cause both flexible heads to become bowed inwardly or concaved so that the finished,

filled and sealed can, when exposed to atmospheric pressure will have the appearance as The word normally as applied to the condition of the can bottom is intended to mean the condition of the bottombefore the can is subjected to a vacuum, or when the Y can ,is unsealed or when it is empty.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent, is 1. A sheet metal can for use in a process of canning substantially as described, comprising a body member, a flexible bottom member normally bulging outwardly and capableof being bowed inwardly, the structure and flexib1lity of said bottom member being such that when bowed inwardly, the said bottomn'iember may be automatically returned to the outwardly bulging form by the weight of the contentsof the can and further that it may finally be bowed inwardlv by atmospheric pressure after the can .shall'have been sealed in vacuum.

2. A sheet metal can for use in a rocess of canning substantially as describe comprising a body member, a flexible bottom member normall bulging outwardly but capable of being bowed inwardly, the structure and flexibility of said bottom member being such that when bowed inwardly,

.the said bottom member may be automatically returned to the outwardly bulging form by the weight of the contents of the can, and a flexible top-member to be sealed to the can, both of said bottom and top members having such flexibility that they will be causedto flex or'bow inwardly by atmospheric pressure after the can shall have been sealed in vacuum.

3. A sheet metal can for use in a process of canning substantially as described, comprising a body member and two flexibleend members, the end member for the bottom of the can being normally outwardly bulging and having such structure and flexibility that when initially bowed from convex to concave form, it may be automatically returned to the outwardly bulging form by the weight of the contents of the can, said end members having such flexibility that they will finally be bowed inwardly by atmos-o pheric pressure after the can shall have been sealed in vacuum, and each of said end members having an annular bead near its peripheral portion.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ADOLPH K. MALMQUIST.

Witnesses:

JAMES D. DOLE EUGENE B. Molina. 

